Military show draws from nondefense firms

Crimped by the ongoing defense-budget crunch, the country's largest military training-simulation trade show may see a pared-back turnout in Orlando next week, though organizers still expect thousands from across the globe to attend the annual event.

Despite a likely dip in the number of U.S. military attendees, organizers say a surge in sign-ups by international corporations and nondefense companies has helped sustain the high-tech trade show as one of the largest indoor exhibitions in the country.

"We expect to be down just a little from last year, though it could end up being about the same, even a little higher," said John Williams, spokesman for the National Training and Simulation Association, a Washington trade group that coordinates the show. "We're getting some real strong international participation, much stronger than last year."

From health-care providers to railroad companies, nondefense operations have also bolstered this year's attendance, he said.

"We will have a much more diverse exhibition this year," Williams said. "The military will still be the strongest component, but it certainly doesn't have the presence it did 10 years ago when it dominated the event. That's because simulation technology has spread into so many other areas these days."

Organizers hope to equal last year's turnout of 17,000, which was down about 15 percent from a peak of 20,000-plus in 2011.

More than 550 exhibitors are scheduled to fill 400,000 square feet at the Orange County Convention Center for this year's event, which takes place Monday through Thursday. Last year, the group booked a record 500,000 square feet of exhibit hall space.

Dubbed the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference, or I/ITSEC, the show is a major event for the nation's defense industry, spurring business development, deal-making, research and innovation in high-tech military training. It also showcases Central Florida's simulation industry, considered the country's largest cluster of training companies and military-contract agencies.

According to the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, more than 100 companies in the metro area employ about 12,500 high-wage workers, generating an estimated economic impact of more than $3 billion.

Industry experts expect training and simulation to avoid much of the deficit-reduction cuts in military spending. More than $50 billion in cuts are scheduled to take effect in 2014 — on top of an earlier cutback of $50 billion carried out several years ago, according to the Pentagon.

Still, it appears impossible for the industry to avoid all of the across-the-board sequestration cuts — a point that is hitting home in events such as I/ITSEC. Pentagon cuts have pinched the travel budgets of military agencies across the country.

"What we're hearing is that many of the military services are not going to have a booth, though they will send some personnel to the show," said Ken Kelly, an industry consultant and former chairman of the National Center for Simulation, a trade group based in Orlando's Central Florida Research Park, the nerve center of the region's simulation industry.

"In general, however, most training and simulation companies are still attending and have signed up for booths, hoping the military would be there," he said. "And I think many of the key people for the services will be there, but we just won't see them in the numbers we saw in the pre-sequestration years."